RAIPUR: The upcoming Congress’ pan-India ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ to be led by Rahul Gandhi will not be passing through Chhattisgarh, ruled by the party.
The reason cited for keeping Chhattisgarh out of the itinerary by the senior party leaders is the perceived security threat owing to the presence of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).
"The planning group of the event has prepared a blueprint while reviewing various routes and available choices to cover the maximum region and states during the yatra. Besides the evident security reason, the Congress is already in a strong position in Chhattisgarh so there is no harm if the state is not included," said a senior Congress leader not willing to be identified.
The scheduled south to north yatra will commence on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to culminate in Kashmir on January 30, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary. It will cross through 12 states and two union territories.
"After Rahul Gandhi's encouraging interaction with around 150 civil society organisations in Delhi, the party hopes the yatra will see many of their representatives and the like-minded people to join the march from across the country," Congress leaders added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah while chairing the 23rd meeting of the Central Zonal Council in Bhopal on Monday had claimed there is a substantial decline in the Maoist violence under Modi’s tenure. But the leaders across the political spectrum apparently nurtured the belief that Maoist still had a strong presence in Chhattisgarh despite the decline in violence.
Maoist attack on 25 May 2013 during the party’s Parivartan Yatra at Jheeram in the conflict zone of Bastar eliminated a chunk of the state’s top Congress leadership, the incident dubbed as biggest political murder in the country. As many as 28 party leaders were killed in the ambush.